Cunningly recycling a batch of album tracks by some of Motown's most prominent artists, recorded over a period of dozen years, the compilers have come up with another winner with this clutch of Beatles songs, which plays through with surprising cohesiveness. The Beatles loved Motown, and here they return the favour.
Stevie Wonder's We Can Work It Out is probably the stand-out listen, with an exuberance that made it a natural choice for a single in 1971, and one can also detect his influence in then-partner Syreeta's definitive cover version of the usually over-treacled She's Leaving Home. The Temptations' Hey Jude, from Puzzle People, comes with a suitably distinctive Norman Whitfield production, and Marvin Gaye's Yesterday is also a highlight. The Four Tops are called upon to deliver cabaret versions of three Paul McCartney ballads though none have the classic hallmark Levi Stubbs touch, although Eleanor Rigby comes closest.
Both the original Supremes tracks come from a 1964 curio entitled A Little Bit Of Liverpool and ought to be great. They have lots of gusto and fire, and are great fun, but the sound is muddy and the production sounds hurried, leaving a sense of what might have been with a little more trouble and care. Diana Ross appears again on Let It Be's The Long And Winding Road. Come Together comes from the 1970 incarnation of the Supremes led by Jean Terrell and is an excellent Frank Wilson production.
George Harrison's Something is well handled by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas (from Natural Resources) and Gladys Knight and the Pips' version of Let It Be is another stand-out, equaling Aretha's version of Paul McCartney's tribute to his mother Mary. Smokey Robinson and the Miracles' And I Love Her is rescued from the rather overlooked album What Love Has Joined Together. It sounds just how you imagine.
The final three tracks are from the post-Beatle period. Diana Ross does a syrupy version of John Lennon's Imagine; Jr Walker blows a fine horn on Wings' My Love from 1976; and Edwin Starr gets gospelly on the rousing George Harrison classic My Sweet Lord, ending the album on an uplifting note